Phrases that Evelynn has picked up from mom and dad...

In raising a child, I have found that I often repeat certain phrases over and over to my children. For some reason, children have to be told something one point five million times before they will begin to do it. Unfortunately they learn how to say the phrase after about one point seven three two times of hearing it.

Having your own words thrown back at you can be either very annoying or extremely hilarious. I find myself very grateful that I never learned to swear. Here is a list of phrases that Evelynn has picked up from Geneen and I. Usually they are directed at her younger sister though more often than not she will direct them and Geneen or me. Some of my favorites are:

"Dang it child!" (Surprisingly this phrase is always self-directed. When she messes up that's what comes out.)

"That's not true." (Anything she disagrees with is not true.)

"I don't know what you are saying." (She typically does.)

"It's okay" (Usually said to excuse her own naught behavior.)

"Hey dad, hey dad, hey dad, hey dad." (Hearing your name in excess is always hard.)

"Shhhhh....you have to be quiet." (This is most often heard at night after it has gotten dark. If it's not nighttime she will turn off all the lights in an effort to create this effect.)

"Can I watch a movie?" (This question will be asked upward of fifty-two point eight nine times a day.)

"I love you too." (Nothing like hearing this every morning on your way out the door.)

"What happened?" (There is nothing wrong with this question, however it can be rather difficult to answer when you have no idea what event she is talking about. Sometimes I just make it up.)

"Sing it dad!" (Another fun one. This phrase usually has something to do with the Bear Necessities.)

"I want choo choo." (This phrase refers to the song "Big Red Car" by the Wiggles. It's said around one hundred point zero one three times a day.)

Ah, the joys of parenthood.

Some pictures and videos to bring us up to speed on...whatever is happening in my house

The baby on the top is Eloise at 12 months, and then the baby on the bottom is Evelynn at 8 months. I think Evelynn out-weighed her even at 8 months.

More bath time fun. My girls love bubbles!

Eloise and I we're having fun post bath showing each other our tongues. This kid has quite the tongue! And it's out all the time. Such silly girls. And a most flatter picture of me, I must say.

Evelynn took a major spill a while ago. She was running in the kitchen (wood floors) with her princess shoes (plastic) and slipped and hit a chair on the way down, twice. You can sort of see the marks in this picture; there is one her forehead and one on her cheek. She stood up and walked over to me crying, but I couldn't help her because I had my hands in raw chicken. She started to sway like she was going to pass out, but I got her to sit down, and then she was fine. No concussion, so we're all alright. :)

It's so nice to see that the Lego's we got the girls for Christmas get used. This was Evleynn's creation. She called it her temple. I thought it was pretty cool that she built this all by herself, and that it was so tall!

Grandma Sue gave Evelynn hair bows for her birthday. She wanted to put them ALL on, but she had a limited amount of hair, so she settled for putting them on her wrists as bracelets.

Back view of the hair.

This is from Valentines Day. It snowed all day, and so we had some family time outside. The snow didn't pack really well for snowmen, so we packed into some coolers and laundry buckets and made snow robots.... In the end it dissolved into a snowball fight between me and Doug. Thanks Grandma Kartchner for the Valentines Day outfits! Always going to be big hit with a skirt, even in February.

The Miracle of Chicken Noodle Soup

Dinner at my house is really hard. In fact, it's my least favorite/most stressful time of the day. Here's the scene: I have two girls who depending on the day either had no naps or only one in between them, or maybe two if I'm lucky (the ideal situation is three naps, one for Evelynn and two for Eloise, but that rarely happens now). I have dinner to prepare, but it's that time of day when all the toys have been played with, all the books read, and they're bored! Can't go outside... too cold. Can't do movies.... (I have this thing with rotting my kids brain, but I always let Evelynn watch at least one a day, but that time has also passed), and Doug's not home yet. So what do I get? One child destroying the house or terrorizing her sister from boredom and the other screaming and clinging to my leg as I walk around the kitchen. Then in comes Doug, and things settle a bit, but I am still frazzled. Next is the actual dinner. I serve up the girls first so their food can cool, and then I cut it into manageable pieces. Then I get them their drinks. Then I serve myself. Eloise is a good eater. She'll stuff herself until her little belly feels like an over inflated basketball is stuck in there. But then she's done and she better as heck be let down and put to bed NOW or there will be more SCREAMING! This usually happens right about the time I finally sit down to eat. So I find something to entertain her, and go back to my food. By this time I'm shoving food in my mouth to finish as fast as I can so I can concentrate on getting Evelynn to eat her dinner. She does really well for 5 minutes, and then she's out of the chair and off doing whatever. I must call her back, get her to sit down, and finish her dinner. This takes at least 20 minutes, sometimes longer. It's not that she's picky either! She likes and eats everything I make, even things like Chicken Curry and Chili and Kielbasa. It's that she had such a hard time concentrating on getting the food from her plate to her mouth! This is the point when me frustration boils over and my nerves fray. I have Eloise screaming, Evelynn gone, not eating, and I'm hungry, wishing I could eat my dinner. After much "You need to take 2 Lion bites and 2 Bear bites and then you can get down" and some "Do not put your fork in Mommy's hair!" and also quite a bit of "Will you please SIT DOWN and EAT!" dinner finally comes to a close. I usually just sit at the table after everyone gets down and finish my dinner by myself. Doug helps me out every time so don't think he just sits there eating his dinner and then leaves, but even with two of us, dinner is a challenge.

And now, I give you the miracle of the Chicken Noodle Soup!

Last night I made Chicken Noodle Soup for dinner. It's a family favorite, but I haven't made it in a while. I served up the girls, got my bowl and dug in. About halfway through my bowl, I notice something different. No one is crying, no one is complaining, and everyone is in their chair. Upon closer inspection, I see both girls calmly eating soup. I sat back, stunned. Doug looks up from his soup and notices my expression. When he realizes why, he smiles and goes back to eating. So I look up from my shoveling and started to enjoy my meal. Evelynn finishes her ENTIRE BOWL of soup and asks for more. Then she eats most of that and asks to get down. Eloise just calmly shoves noodles into her mouth until there are no more, and then plays with her sippy cup until I'm done. It was the most relaxed family meal I have had since Evelynn was on solid foods. I told Doug I would serve Chicken Noodle Soup for dinner every night if we got these same results. He didn't object and I am sorely tempted.

What is it about Chicken Noodle Soup? It is a miracle food. There is nothing you want while or after you've been sick that tastes better. It's a low calorie food. It's great on cold days. Everyone likes it. And apparently it makes dinner time a breeze. Definitely a miracle.

Doug's 25 Random V-Day/Anniverary Things

Doug wrote this for me for our anniversary. I think I have the greatest husband ever. :)

Having read so many interesting random things about so many interesting, random people. FINALLY someone tagged me. So in the spirit of being different (I'll do my other list later), and in honor of my fifth wedding anniversary come this Valentines day I thought I'd share with the world 25 things I love about my sweetheart.If I've tagged you it's because I think you should do a similar list for your significant other.

1. Geneen has the most amazing smile. Seriously, it brightens rooms, lowers electricity bills and saves small endangered frogs in the amazon.

2. I am absolutely in awe of Geneen's dedication to staying in shape. Seriously people, she's up at 6:00 in the morning to go running in the ice and snow. She's absolutely amazing.

3. Geneen is gorgeous. She's as beautiful now as she was five years ago.

4. I know this is redundant, but I think my wife is a fox.

5. When Geneen laughs, it's for real, she's either all in or nothing at all. I love that.

6. Geneen is a super-fantastic mom. We have to beautiful children one of which can be a handful. She puts up with them day in and day out -- amazing.

7. I have never in my life met someone more supportive of my goals than Geneen. No matter how many times I have changed my mind as to what I want to do she has been there to cheer me on.

8. I love that my wife finds me attractive and that she lets me know it regularly.

9. The past five years have been a blast. Not once have I ever regretting getting hitched to my best friend in the whole-wide-world.

10. Geneen is my best friend in the whole-wide-world.

11. I love that we share so many interests. It makes coming home so much fun.

12. I love that I get a kiss just for walking in the door after work.

13. I love that Geneen has a stubborn, independent side to her. This girl is super tough. That's great. I know that she can take care of herself. It's nice that she makes me feel needed though.

14. Fifty-percent of my awesome children come from Geneen. Considering how awesome they are it's a wonder that they have any of me in them.

15. I love that Geneen is so easy to surprise. And let me tell you there is nothing more fun than surprising Geneen.

16. Geneen is drop-dead gorgeous. It's a wonder that she has any girl-friends at all. I would think they'd all be jealous.

17. I love that Geneen was a teenager when we got married. How cool is that?

18. I love that Geneen worked hard to get a degree, some of that while being really pregnant. I know it wasn't easy, that's impressive.

19. One of my favorite things about Geneen is that she gets really excited about things. Her optimism and excitement are contagious. Definitely something I can use more of in my life.

20. I love that Geneen is always reading a book.

21. I love that Geneen loves the Lord. It makes it easier for me to do what's right knowing that I have her in my corner.

22. I love that Geneen and I have been sealed for time and all eternity. I can't think of a better person to spend forever with.

23. Geneen is the kindest person I know.

24. I love how distracting Geneen can be.

25. Basically, Geneen is the most amazing person I know. I am so incredibly lucky to have her. I thank God for her everyday. The support and love she gives me are vital. Any of my successes can be attributed to the fact that she has been there for me every step of the way. She is a wonderful mother. I am so grateful that we are able to raise our children together. I love her more and more everyday. Asking her to marry me was by far the smartest thing I have ever done. Marrying her has brought more joy and happiness.I love you honey. Happy Anniversary.

25 Random Things About Me

I did this for Facebook and I just thought I would share by putting it up here on my blog. If Doug ever writes one, I'll post his too.

1. I love my pancakes with applesauce, my steak with A1 sauce, and my chicken nuggets with honey mustard sauce.

2. I am scared to make phone calls to people I do not know well. I usually make Doug call the mechanic, doctors office etc because I get all edgy and nervous. Even if it's people I know but haven't talked to in a long time, I get so uptight. I'll talk to someone face to face anytime.

3. My least favorite household chore is folding laundry. I will let it sit for days, sometimes until I have to use the basket the clean clothes are in to take the dirty ones to be washed. My husband thinks my least favorite chore is doing the dishes, which is why he offers to do them so often. I'm grateful, but 6.5 times out of 10 I would rather do anything else except fold laundry.

4. If I had the opportunity I would go back to school and get bachelors in at least 5 different subjects. I don't want to get a masters at anything because I think there is so much to learn, why limit yourself.

5. The oddest compliment I have ever received was from my OBGYN. He said I had a beautiful pelvic bone.

6. I think I have the greatest in-laws ever. It's nice to know that I can feel just as excited about my mother-in-law coming to visit as I do about my mom.

7. I have successfully lost 30+ lbs twice in my life through good old fashion diet and exercise. The need to lost this kind of weight came about because of my pregnancies, where unfortunately I did not lose the baby weight through nursing. It required months of 6 am workouts and nixing the ice cream binges....

8. The one thing in my life that brings me the most joy and anger, the most happiness and intense frustration is being a mom. Who knew you could love someone so much but still get more angry with them than any one else in your life? And the weird part is that I want to add 4 more to the 2 kids I already have.

9. I have the most wonderful husband in the world, but you all should already know that ;)

10. I really enjoyed the first year of marriage, contrary to many people who said it would be the hardest and least enjoyable.

11. My anniversary is on Valentines Day (5 years this year!) and that's pretty cool. I originally wanted to be married on Friday, Feb 13th, but that got nixed.

12. Pickles and grapefruits make me gag, no matter how often I re-try them. I am not picky about many things, but these two are definitely nasty.

13. I don't wear any make-up all week expect mascara until Sunday when I add eye shadow. It's not that I don't like make-up or that I don't have the time, I just that I think I look weird with too much on.

14. I love to run. It's taken me almost a year of making myself run even when I hated it to arrive at the point where I liked it, much less love it. But now I do. I have to pace myself during race season so I don't go broke signing up for races.

15. Moving scares me. I am dreading uprooting for grad school.

16. I'm going to miss Utah when I leave. I never thought I would, but I guess after living here for 7 years I can finally say I'm going to miss it.

17. I can never remember how old I am. Example, a few weeks ago I told Doug that I entered my age on some workout machine that was supposed to track my calories. I told him I entered 23 and I was thinking how weird it was going to be that I was going to turn 24 this year, and he looked at me and said, "Honey, you're turning 25."

18. My favorite thing to do is hang out with my husband. Most times I just want to hang out with him at home. I'm such a homebody.

19. One of my regrets in my life is that I could not do more with music than I have. In high school and college I loved to sing and I was in choirs and such, but since graduating and having kids, there just hasn't been time. I wish I could be a famous singer... not pop or opera necessarily... just famous beautiful singing.

20. My three year old daughter has not worn a "normal" outfit for an entire day since Christmas. We gave her dress-ups for Christmas.... I'm still trying to decide if that was a good idea. At the moment she is wearing two skirts, one of my old tank tops, and princess shoes.

21. I am scared to get my hair cut. It makes me so nervous! I think it's because I have a very hard time visualizing what I want, so I always get the style that I say, but it is almost never what I REALLY wanted. So I hardly ever get my hair cut. Usually once or twice a year.

22. When I was 2 or 3 years old my older brother threw a rock on top of my head which required me to get several stitches. Now you all know why I am the way I am. :)

23. Daffodils are my favorite flower. They make me happy.

24. I don't drive at night unless I absolutely have to. I have terrible night vision, and it scares me. One time Doug and I took a vacation and it started to snow while we were driving on a very dark and twisty road. I had to cover my eyes and turn up the radio I was so scared.

25. One time I was walking past a building with a full length window on one side, and I turned to wave at people I knew inside and walked right into a pole, causing me to fall down and bruise my nose, and everyone laughed. It was pretty funny, but would have been better if 20 people hadn't seen it happen.

Pacifier Success!

You all remember the post I made about taking away the pacifiers, right? Yeah, I thought so. Well, we took the plunge this weekend. Saturday we said, this is it, no more prep work, it's time to say goodbye to those nasty pacifiers. Our prep work up to this point had been to tell her every night that because she was 3 she wouldn't get to have her pacifiers much longer. She was a big girl and big girls didn't use pacifiers. Every time we said this she would become very upset until we gave her the pacifier and said goodnight. One time we even tried to bribe her with the promise of gum after she woke up, and that was a mess. So on the big day (Saturday) we decided to do some research about the best way to go about this process. Thank heaven's for Google, that's all I have to say. We learned that people had the most success when they cut the tip off the pacifier and then gave it to the child. Since there was no more suction it was less satisfying and the child gave it up faster. So Doug cut the pacifiers, and I was in charge of breaking the news to her. We went through the normal bedtime routine, and then I took her into her room and gave her the modified pacifier.

She put it in her mouth--"Uh oh, it's broken!" She holds it out to me.
I say "Oh no. Well, that's what happens when you turn three, you're pacifiers break."
She said--"We have to fix it!"
I said--"I'm sorry honey, but we can't fix it. It's broken because you turned three." At this point I was trying not to laugh, because she was just so concerned.
She says--"Oh, okay."
I leave the room.

That was it! No crying, no screaming, no fussing, nothing! I was floored! It did take her a little longer than normal to fall asleep, but she didn't even try to get out of bed or anything. It was actually one of the more successful bed times I've had. Amazing. The next night, we cut them even shorter, so the only way she can keep it in her mouth is by biting it with her front teeth. She looked at it funny and then rolled over and went to sleep. I just can't get over it. My daughter continues to surprise me every day. I thought it was going to be weeks of screaming and crying and whining and awfulness. Nope. Not even a hiccup. Definitely the only way to go. Weaning Eloise was harder than this, and she wasn't even that bad! So there you have it folks. In my opinion, this is the only way to wean a pacifier.

Birthday Girls!

I know, I know, I am WAY behind at getting up pictures of the girls' birthdays. I'm sorry! Here they are. We went swimming for Evelynn's birthday on Saturday, January 31st and then had a combine party that night for both girls. This was to prevent the inevitable fight about where Evelynn's presents were the next day on Eloise's birthday. Thank you to the grandparents (well, grandma's really) for providing about 90% of the presents! I admit, Doug and I got Evelynn two gifts and Eloise one, and it was more than enough for them. Evelynn still asks when she gets more presents. What with the miracle of Christmas and then her birthday a month later, I'm afraid she is now expecting presents at regular intervals. Santa and her birthday also some how got linked, but I'm sure that will be put right in a few years. I took more video than I did pictures and those tell the story much better, but here are a few pictures.

We decorated the kitchen the night before. Evelynn chose the colors. I guess she really is a girl through and through, because I was pushing for green or yellow, but she was adamant about having pink.

As you can see, Evelynn only wanted the cup cake for the frosting. Her real love is ice cream...a girl after my own heart. At the store I asked her what color she wanted (since flavors are a bit vague to her) and she asked for green, which is mint chocolate chip, also my favorite! I'm not too surprised though, since I'm pretty sure a lot of that was passed on to her in the womb (meaning I ate a lot of it pregnant)!

Eloise was in heaven, though the ice cream was a bit too cold for her. She certainly tried her best.
Here's the....magnetic doodle pad.... or whatever you call it from Grandma Sue. She loves it! She actually colors on it and is very possessive. She screams whenever she sees Evelynn playing with it, which is acceptable because Evelynn has her own.

Hard at work.

Here's the birthday girl in her new dress and hair bows. I took this picture and almost cried. She's not my baby any more! She looks so grown up in this picture, like a true kid!



Singing Happy Birthday. I'm glad Eloise didn't get burned.